Archery World Cup: Deepika bounces back to win bronze
India’s most decorated archer, Deepika Kumari, salvaged her pride with a hard-earned bronze medal after a semifinal heartbreak, while Parth Salunkhe also finished on the podium for the first time as India wrapped up their campaign at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 with seven medals here Sunday.
A day after compound archers put up a dominating show with five medals, Deepika and Salunkhe added two more from the recurve section to end India’s campaign on a high.
Exactly a year after the 21-year-old reigning Olympics champion Lim Sihyeon had knocked Deepika out at the same stage of the Yecheon World Cup, the Indian was undone again by the Korean in the semifinal, losing 1-7 in a largely one-sided women’s recurve individual contest.
The 30-year-old four-time Olympian, though, bounced back strongly to defeat another Korean, Kang Chae Young, 7-3 in the bronze medal playoff and return with a podium finish. Deepika showed greater composure and tactical clarity in the playoff than during her defeat in the semis.
The opening set ended in a 27-all tie, but Deepika edged ahead with a solid 28 in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Kang, a former world champion who had beaten Deepika in the Berlin World Cup quarterfinals back in 2017, fought back in the third, scoring a flawless 30 to Deepika’s 27 to make it three-all.
The Indian responded with her best shooting under pressure, firing three perfect arrows for 30 in the fourth set to again take a 5-3 lead. Needing just a draw in the final set to secure victory, Deepika delivered once more, shooting 29 to Kang’s 28 to bag the bronze.
In the men’s section, 21-year-old Salunkhe, who qualified lowly at 60th place, impressed with his resilience after a 1-7 loss to top seed and Korean legend Kim Woojin in the semifinals. Salunkhe bounced back impressively to beat higher-seeded French archer Baptiste Addis 6-4 in a tense five-settter to earn his maiden World Cup medal.
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